Imagining One Sovereign: Sovereignty in China’s Political Discourse

Abstract

The diversity of the Chinese academic discourse on sovereignty appears to converge at some point. As discussed in the last chapter, recent years have seen a remarkable increase in the number of academic works related to the subject, though many are deemed as treading close to the official line and offer little breakthrough in its theoretical development. Notably, the tendency for Chinese academics to place sovereignty outside and above the realm of right of governance is raised in the chapter. The waters of Chinese intellectual thinking appear to flow along the same course, despite the chaotic currents that lie underneath.

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Notes

7.

The Hong Kong Basic Law specifically states universal suffrage as its “ultimate aim” in both the selection of the chief executive, and the “election of all the members of the Legislative Council” (BLHK, 1997, Art. 45 and 68).Google Scholar

10.

Article 5 nonetheless suggests an arrangement to the effect: “after the peaceful unification of the state [China], Taiwan can implement a different system from that in the mainland, [and] a high level of self-governance” (Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, 2005, p. 3).Google Scholar